Switzerland celebrates national day today

August 1st commemorates the creation of the Swiss Confederacy that we know today.

In 1291 three mountain cantons joined and signed the Federal Charter, which was the basis of today's Swiss Confederacy with 26 cantons.

A group of linen men vowed allegiance to the Rutley meadow on the shore of Lake Lucern, in Ur canton.

However, this charter was discovered in 1758, and the Swiss government officially viewed it as a document on which their state was established in the late 1800 ' s.

August 1 was first celebrated in 1891, and by 1899 the annual festival was held.

In 1993, the Swiss voted en masse for August 1 to be a national holiday, and by the following year, 1994, this date became a day off.

August 1 is celebrated inside and outside Switzerland with paper, fire, and fireworks.